Qinetiq, the controversially privatised British defence and security technology company, has appointed George Tenet - the CIA chief at the time of 9/11 - as a non-executive director.

Mr Tenet was widely criticised for intelligence failures in the period before the September 11 terrorist attacks and in the run-up to the Iraq war.

According to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward's book Plan of Attack, Mr Tenet told President Bush it was a "slam dunk" that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

The 53 year-old was one of the longest serving US directors of central intelligence. He was appointed by President Clinton in 1997 and retired in July 2004 for "personal reasons". He subsequently became a professor at Georgetown University.

Qinetiq, part of what was the formerly state-owned Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, was floated earlier this year, making tens of millions of pounds for chairman Sir John Chisholm and chief executive Graham Love.

The government had already sold 31% of the company to US venture capital company Carlyle for £42m. Carlyle later sold part of that stake for £160m.

Mr Chisholm said today Mr Tenet's "extraordinary track record and experience in the fields of intelligence and security are particularly relevant as we continue to focus on the US defence and security market".